November 2022
Announcements:
Thanksgiving
The library will be closed Wednesday, November 23rd - Friday, November 25th for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Drop by the library before your holiday break to pick up a good read!
New Print Books
New Ebooks
Featured new additions to our ebook collections:

  • Think Like An Innovator: 76 Inspiring Business Lessons From the World's Greatest Thinkers and Innovators by Paul Sloane | Access via O'Reilly





  • Presentation Essentials: The Tools You Need to Captivate Your Audience, Deliver Your Story, and Make Your Message Memorable by Anne Bruce & Sardek Love | Access via O'Reilly
*To access O'Reilly titles select your institution as "Not Listed" and enter your academic email address ending in .edu. OSO, Wiley, Springer, and Taylor & Francis titles are available while connected to the RHEC network.
Featured Resource:
Social Explorer
Social Explorer is a demographic research tool that includes over 220 years of data and enables the creation of customizable, interactive maps. It includes hundreds of thousands of built-in data indicators, related to demography, economy, health, politics, environment, crime, and more.

For example, click here to view a map showing the veteran population in Virginia. Did you know 8.42% of Roanoke City's population over the age of 18 are veterans?

How to access: if you're using the RHEC network, via a wired connection or wi-fi, you automatically have access. If you would like to use this database at home, you may create an account by clicking the Create Account link while connected to the RHEC network. Sign in with your account at home to have full access!
This Month's Display:
Geography Awareness Week
November 14th - 18th is Geography Awareness Week! Established more than 25 years ago, this public awareness program encourages citizens to think and learn about the significance of place, and how we affect and are affected by it.

More than "that class I had in 5th grade where I had to memorize the names of rivers," knowledge of geography is vital to understanding ecology, agriculture, economics, politics, anthropology, climate science, and most importantly, each other.

To celebrate, this month we will be displaying titles in our collection that focus on cartography and atlases, historical geography, discoveries in geography, and human geography.
Staff Pick of the Month
by Ken Jennings
(GA105.3.J46 2011)

Full disclosure, I used to be a bit of a "Geography Wonk." I did a few National Geographic Bees as a youngster and was on our high school's social studies scholastic bowl team. I still love watching Jeopardy! and get excited when the geography questions pop up.

But that's nothing compared to the individuals Ken Jennings writes about in Maphead. These "geogeeks" are experts at trivia, geocaching, traveling, map collecting, cartography, and the use and creation of geo-technologies like GIS and Google Earth. Jennings is a map nerd himself, which is hardly surprising since he holds the title of "Greatest of All Time" on Jeopardy!

Reading Maphead you'll learn a ton of interesting tidbits about maps, cartography, and interesting places. If you've ever spent more than 30 minutes exploring Google Maps or Google Earth, then this might be the book for you.
One More Suggestion...
by Mónica Guzmán
(BF637.C45 G87 2022)

If you're one of the many Americans who are anxious about what your family's post-election Thanksgiving table conversation might be like later this month, you might consider checking out I Never Thought of it That Way.

From the publisher: "In this timely, personal guide, Mónica ...takes you to the real front lines of a crisis that threatens to grind America to a halt -- broken conversations among confounded people. She shows you how to overcome the fear and assumptions that surround us to finally do what only seems impossible: understand and even learn from people in your life whose whole worldview is not just different from yours, but opposed."

I Never Thought of it That Way is available to check out now from the library. And if that doesn't work at Thanksgiving, there's always Adele.